Big Conversations In 90045 This Week

In the last couple of years, social media has become a huge means of communication for us. Facebook has been that way for a number of years. It was only a matter of time before social media became a means for meeting strangers … like your neighbors.

In Westchester, we have a super engaged, active 2000+ member Moms Group started by Julie Zaller. I became aware of the group about three years ago when members rallied to raise a staggering amount of money for a Benny’s Taco employee who stopped a homeless guy from grabbing a child walking with his nanny. I’ve loved being part of the group. I’ve learned a lot and I’ve shared a lot. I only got one kid. Somebody should benefit from everything I learned, right? Whatever I’ve wondered about or wanted to know about, I’ve been able to post and the mamas have responded.

More recently, NextDoor has come on the scene, trying to be a Facebook for neighbors. I didn’t think they’d get far for a couple of reasons, but membership in Westchester is pretty respectable. I’ve been involved in a number of civic conversations on that platform, but it can get heated and not so civilized sometimes. That crowd is not nearly as well-behaved as the mamas on Facebook. 🙂

If you have a hard time keeping up with the chatter or you want to know what’s being said without the aggravation, I’m starting a regular feature where I’ll give the quick summary of the more prominent conversations online with a search suggestion if you want to go look at the conversation more in-depth. I’m calling this feature “Big Conversations in 90045 This Week.”

The Moms Facebook Group is “secret.” This means that you can’t find it on Facebook unless you are a member. Email me at tracy @ living90045.com and I’ll get you hooked up. It’s a very worthwhile resource for moms and it’s open to moms from 90045, PdR and Playa Vista.

With that, let’s look at the chatter that caught my eye this week.

Biggie is Home!

Let’s start literally with a warm fuzzy. Biggie is a cat who lives in North Kentwood who went missing for exactly two months. In this day and age when everybody is up in arms over the coyotes and blaming every missing animal on these hungry predators, it’s nice to be reminded that missing animals do come home. Biggie likely got caught in somebody’s garage. Source: NextDoor, search “Biggie is Home.”

Hawks Attacking Dogs

It’s unlikely but not unheard of that certain hawks will attack small dogs. Owls, too. Source: NextDoor, search “hawks.”

Coyote Sightings

Tons of chatter about sightings and mapping those sightings. If you have small animals, it’s worth a look at what people are saying. Source: NextDoor, search “coyote.”

Do Not Feed The Coyotes

People have been spotted feeding the coyotes, which lowers their fear of humans. The coyote situation is a mess, but feeding them is not an answer. And, by the way, it’s illegal. Source: NextDoor, search “do not feed.”

Unsightly Home Additions

The subject house is new construction, but at the last minute, the contractor opted to hoist two huge AC units on top of the house. Neighbors complained and a fence (yes, on the roof) followed to “hide” the units. Will be interesting to see how the new roof fence impacts the $2.6M asking price. Source: NextDoor, search “8056 Kentwood” and “Kentwood Mansion Mess.”

Sunday Westchester Market

Everybody keeps promising to come out and nobody is doing it. Is Westchester ready for a high end market? Maybe not. Source: NextDoor, search “farmers market.”

The Wetlands Lower Bluff Trail Is Not for Public Access

Apparently some Kentwood old-timers think the lower bluff trail is public property. The Friends of Ballona Wetlands sent out a reminder that the property is not public and outlined a little history. It’s an interesting read. Source: NextDoor, search “update from Friends of Ballona” and “work on lower bluff trail.”

Found Tortoise

Imagine looking out your window and seeing a rather large tortoise chilling in your backyard. I don’t know if this is true, but one commenter is guessing that it might be the tortoise he lost in 1977. Interesting factoid – apparently tortoises can live to be 100 years old and 180 pounds. I personally wouldn’t like to look out and see a 180# tortoise in my backyard. Source: NextDoor, search “tortoise.”

Burglary On West 87th Place on Thursday

Three suspects and some fine photos of a new black Cadillac Escalade, License 6LBE081. Neighborhood Watch block captains were recently told that thieves rent late model cars for their activities (I’m guessing to blend in better in affluent neighborhoods). Note and report license plates of suspicious cars. Rental companies may be able to lead police to suspects. Source: NextDoor, search “burglary on west 87th place.”

The mama who lives in this house wrote a full and moving account of the incident for the Mom’s FB group. Search “8700 block of W. 87th Place.”

Tax for Homeless Housing

Proposition H was approved by the City Council to appear on the November 8th ballot, pending approval by the Registrar’s office. The proposition wil raise property taxes to pay for homelessness housing. Source: NextDoor, search “tax for homeless housing.”

Open Windows Invites Burglars

It’s summer and it’s hot, but that also makes it prime burglary season. 26 burglaries in Pacific Division week before last and 13 were through open windows. Close your windows, people! Source: Nextdoor, search “about burglaries.”

Restricted Parking Districts, Anybody?

The Governmental Affairs Committee of the Neighborhood Council is hosting a rep from LADOT on Monday evening to discuss the mechanics of creating restricted parking districts. Source: NextDoor, search “parking meeting monday.”

Metro Line Down Sepulveda?

Metro has a measure on the ballot in November that would raise more than $120B through sale taxes for Metro projects across the the county. One such project is light rail down Sepulveda. Have an opinion? Head over to NextDoor and search “metro line on sepulveda” and join the conversation.

Safety On Our Streets

Following the recent attempted rape in Emerson Manor, there has been much discussion about problems with the golf course, RV’s and our homeless population. It’s not clear if any of these are related to the assault, but there is no shortage of opinions on this thread. Source: NextDoor, search “let’s try to prevent.”

Public Safety Townhall

This event is September 7th and features a variety of LAPD types, as well as Councilman Bonin. If you’re alarmed at recently stories that neighbors are calling LAPD and not getting their calls answered, this is the event for you. Source: NextDoor, search “public safety.”

Beware of the Phone Scammers

One mom wrote on the Moms page about getting caught off-guard when a guy called claiming to be from the IRS and she found herself giving him personal information. Lots of moms chimed in that the same thing has happened to them. Sadly, be on-guard at all times. Source: Moms Group, search “IRS.”

LA Airport Police Tweet

The airport police tweet! Who knew? One of the mamas knew and posted about it one day when the helicopters were buzzing overhead. Source: Moms Group. Get tweets at https://twitter.com/LAAirportPD.

Bonus PSA

The annual Jet to Jetty 5K/10K fundraiser is coming up on Sunday, August 28th. An event has been set up on NextDoor.

Let me know if you ever hear chatter that you think 90045 families would want to know about and I’ll include it in the weekly round-up.